Instant Pot Yogurt

After some discussion with Mom Tobler about what I wanted for Mother's Day I decided to pull the trigger on the Instant Pot. So glad I did! It is pretty dang amazing. I was also super glad I decided to get it while Mom was here so she could figure it out for me. I was a bit intimidated. One of the main things I wanted to try was yogurt. My kids go through SO MUCH yogurt. We easy cruise through the big 24 count Greek yogurts in a week. And as you know Greek yogurt is SPENDY! I had seen a few friends had gotten the Instant Pot and they were all about the yogurt feature. So we tried it. 

We followed this tutorial and we were super pleased with the outcome. All you need is whole milk and 1-2 tbsp of plain yogurt (depending on if you are making a whole or half gallon of yogurt) as a start. I purchased a high quality Greek yogurt as my start and then froze in into 2 tbs portions for future use. Once you make yogurt once you can use the yogurt you made as a starter as well. Once you boil the milk, the cool it, and add the starter you let it sit in the pot on the yogurt mode for 8 hours.

After 8 hours it looks like this. Then without stirring it, we covered it and placed it in the fridge to set up for another 6 hours.

 6 hours later....

Yogurt and sooooo creamy!

At this point we could have simply left it and just had yogurt, but we wanted greek yogurt, so we strained it fro another 6 hours, letting all of the Whey drip off. The whey was then used in smoothies and Mom made some bread with it!!

After 6 hours... it was done! So thick!!! 

After it's done straining it is plain Greek yogurt. Which you can do whatever you want with. We like to add a bit of sugar and frozen fruit, or vanilla. If you make vanilla it tastes almost like whipped cream. The best part about all of this is it's high in protein, you can make it into what ever flavor you like, you can control how much sugar you add, AND it only costs you a gallon of milk!!!!!! I will never buy yogurt again. I've made it a few time since then and even given some to friends and everyone rants and raves about it! And even better yet the kids LOVE it! Can you tell how thrilled I am?! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm craving some yogurt!

Charlie

One of our friends was going out of town for a week and needed someone to watch their dog. We were up for the task and welcomed Charlie into our home for the week. The kids were pretty excited!

Charlie is a great dog! She loved standing by the window and would go nuts every time she would see a squirrel. 

I swear this dog was part human. She wanted to be right by your side. I total shadow. She didn't like to be outside alone, which worked out perfectly because E doesn't like being outside alone either. Those two would be in the back yard for hours just hanging out together. 

But when push came to shove, she was Gramma's dog. She loved to be right next to her.

It was pretty wet while Charlie was here so she got a bath every night, sometimes twice a day just to get the mud off of her. She was a great sport. 

A quick blow dry and she's off to bed. It was fun having Charlie for the week but it just reiterated that I am SO NOT READY to have any pets any time soon!! E has wanted a puppy for a few years now and I told her that we would talk about it after we finish having babies. She keeps asking me if I'm pregnant, I'm not sure if she wants a sister or a puppy more.

Gramma is Back!

It's been a month and Gramma is back! I couldn't be more excited! And neither could the kids! The next two week are going to be busy ones with Jakob's test coming up.

Gramma had plans to work out every day, that is a bit difficult with the kids! 

It sure was cute watching the do stretches though.

I suppose Gramma did get a work out... just not the one she had intended on.

Welcome back Gramma!! We are so excited that you're here! We're going to have so much fun!

Last Day of School

May 19th was the kids last day of school! It seems a bit strange to me to have summer vacation start in the middle of May. In Canada we don't get out until the end of June. But alas we are done and I am looking forward to slower mornings. 

E with her helper Miss Emma and her Teacher Miss Kaite. E did such a great job in the program and her teachers were quite sad to hear that she was 5 and would be going to kindergarten next year. She was a great peer model and this program was great for her! While they didn't focus on ABC's or 123's they did focus on being helpful, accepting people, listening, and classroom rules and to me there isn't anything more important! I am so thankful for Miss Katie and her team. E had a great year!!

Just looking at the picture makes me tear up a bit. My heart is so full of gratitude. Duke came into this program saying single syllable words. Everything he said was an approximation. He had temper tantrums and was just frustrated by being trapped. Over the past 6 months Duke has gone from single syllables to saying full sentences. I can understand most of his words and he is generally pretty accurate. He loves to sing and I can understand the words as he sings away. He is rocking his final ending sounds but my favorite is when he points to himself and says "DuKe!" It is amazing! Miss. Melissa was his teacher and Duke is now doing pretend play. Zooming cars around, saying please, thank you, you're welcome, bless you, and my turn. He is learning how to take turns, share and understand when things don't go his way. Miss. Trisha was his speech therapist and I just can't even begin to explain how amazing she is! Because of her Duke has come out of his shell and can express himself better than ever. I have really seen a word explosion over the past two weeks! It is such a blessing!!!

Duke gets to have one more year in his Pre-School and he is excited to go back and ride the bus!

E will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and I honestly can't believe that she's that old! Time needs to slow down!!

The last day of school the kids had a carnival that the parents got to attend. Here is E with her friend Dominay.

Putting on some tattoo's.

And playing games! It was such a great year and such a great program with incredible teachers!!! 

Here are a few of Duke's school projects. Such a creative boy! Now bring on Summer!!!

Leif's Sprinkle

 This was the first time that I have had a "sprinkle" after my baby was born and it was just perfect. Once you get to baby #3 and have a boy and a girl, it really becomes more about visiting than anything else! Anna and Drew were amazing making cute decorations and yummy food! It was fabulous! 

 It was quite the gathering and it felt so good to do my hair, put on some make up and get out of the house. Talking to other women and seeing friends! Plus who doesn't enjoy showing off their tiny human?

And the only picture I took of the guest of honor! He was just dashing! It was such a great night thanks again to all who came!

Leif's First Day at Church

At four weeks old it was time for Leif and I to return to church. It was mother's day and what better Sunday to ease your way back into routine than Mother's Day? Everyone oooo'd and ahhhh'd over Lieflet and he was just darling in his little shirt and vest. I sure do love this little man!

Mother's Day

 Mother's Day I woke up to delicious breakfast and Jakob let me sleep in, which may have been the best gift of all! I came out to the kitchen and found so beautiful flowers and a letter. Exactly what I wanted. Jakob also said that he wasn't sure what I really wanted as a gift, so i got to decide. What a thrill. What should I get? A bosche? A Vitamix? A steam mop? An Insta Pot? So many choices!

 E made me a beautiful handprint flower and picked out a pink plant at school. So darling!

Manny made some fingerprint bee's which we adorable! So thankful for teachers who make us Mama' feel special!

But even with all the the gifts and kind words the best gift of all is being these tiny humans Mama! Being a Mama has stretched me in ways I never knew possible and there is nothing in the world that brings me as much joy as these three do. They are my heart and soul. I am so blessed to be their Mama!

1 Month

 This truly isn't fair even in the slightest bit. How can our little man be 1 month old already?!?! Those four weeks FLEW by!!

• Height: 22 1/2 inches (in the 60th percentile)
• Weight: 11lbs 3oz (in the 60th percentile )
• Head Circumference: 40 cm (in the 90th percentile)
• Nicknames: Leifers, Leif-let, Monkey, Ronaldo. Duke calls him Lil Bra-der. He has a wealth of names, not as bad as his brother though.

• We have a very noisy sleeper! He is always grunting, whistling or snoring. He will fuss a lot in the night but almost always goes back to sleep.
• He has the most amazing dimples and will give us fleeting smiles. Every single one of them has me swooning!!
• This boy has INCREDIBLE head control. He has been holding his head up since day one. He really doesn't like to be snuggled in on my shoulder if you're holding him upright, he wants to be looking around.
• I love his little forehead wrinkles. 

• Leif is sleeping through the night and has been for the last week and a half. He's got a semi-established routine and it's all by his own schedule. He gets up for the day around 6:30-7:00 and nurses... a lot. He will usually stay wake for a good 2-3 hours and then he naps from around 10:00-12:00. Sometimes he wakes up to eat and then goes right back to sleep. Then he's up until 2:00 and goes down for a pretty lengthy nap and wakes up around 5:30-6:00 sometimes I have to wake him up. Then he stays awake until 9:30 at the earliest. The later the better!! Sometimes we have to give him a bath, or do diaper changes to keep him awake. Ideally I like him to stay up until 10:00. Then he's down for the night. He will wake up once between 4 & 6 to eat and then back to sleep. I still have to get up at around 2:00 to pump. I'm trying not to get used this sleeping pattern as I don't think it will last!

• He's happiest in your arms. I'm working on setting him down more but I love snuggling him too.
• He will take a soother, but isn't the biggest fan.
• While he wants attention Leif is a super chill baby. He's got a the best demeanor about him. You can't help but fall in love with him!
• He takes a bottle pretty well, but I don't give him one very often.

• This boy likes to eat! I had the most difficult time nursing this little man. You'd think by baby number 3 I'd know what to do but it was a rough road filled with lots of tears. I was in a ton of pain and despite using all of the creams, I was in tears every time he would latch. I was cracked and it was the worst kind of pain. I also had an insane over supply and was trying my hardest not to get mastitis so I was doing warm compresses and massages frequently on my clogged ducts. I finally went into see a lactation specialist and she refereed me to a dentist to get Leif tongue and lip lasered to correct a tongue and lip tie. I was noticing marginal improvement, but the pain was still pretty intense. He was still nursing for 45 minutes at a time and we just weren't getting on the same page. I then went to another lactation specialist and we worked on Leif's latch. I was treated for Thresh and after another two weeks we finally found our groove! He's still a lazy eater and we usually nurse for 20 minutes (+/-). Because of my over supply I was quite literally just dumping milk into him so he didn't have to work very hard and he'd still gain weight. It was such a stressful ordeal!

• He was pretty jaundice and still has yellowish eyes. It is breast milk jaundice and it will go anyway eventually.
• His little belly button chord would not fall off! After three weeks it was still holding on pretty tight. I went into the pediatrician to have him checked for his jaundice and such and she pulled it off. It then kept oozing which was a bit strange. He had developed a mucous something or other and it was making mucus. We had to go and get that cauterized. Poor boy. 

• He also had the biggest boobs! They were huge! It was just swelling from my hormones and they developed bumps. I was a bit worried but almost over night the swelling went down and they are almost normal sized now. Poor kid was totally fine with so many little issues that turned into one big issue. So glad to have it all sorted out!

We are all so in love with Leif! He is such a wonderful baby, super happy and just enchanting! How did we get so lucky!